The William Pit, formerly called the Wellington Pit, lay just north-east of Crossgates and close to the Lady Anne and George Pits of the Fordell Colliery, the latter's pithead being about 800 yards from the pithead of the William which was linked to the George Pit underground. The shaft of the William Pit was eventually sunk to around 73 fathoms and through its working life, it was probably the 'best-loved' of the Fordell pits.

At the pit, the Fourteen Foot Coal, or Kelty Main Coal, lay at a depth of 21 fathoms yet it was faulted off at the neighbouring George Pit.
The Rough Coal, at the base of the Blairhall group, was separated from the Fourteen Foot Coal by a very variable thickness of strata. Areas of Rough Coal were found in small synclines at the William. The coal was inconstant both in quality and in thickness and, where best developed it was in several leaves containing about 7 ft. of coal.

Information on coals worked at, or near, William (Wellington) Pit

"COAL"
December, 1950

OLD FATHER WILLIAM

Author: R. Holman

The closing of William Pit in Fife concludes the history of a mining community with strong family traditions reaching back through four centuries, for although this pit was sunk in 1843, the village of Fordell has housed miners since the sixteenth century.

Fordell, in Fife, is a mining village. Its tradition began in 1511 when King James IV granted a charter to James Henderson, a King's Advocate - who built Fordell Castle. Coal was first worked on the Fordell estate in that century, from an outcrop seam, and was shipped from Inverkeithing harbour.

Two centuries later, in the mid-eighteenth century, when other seams were being worked, the owner of the estate and its mines built St. David's Harbour on the Forth, and coal was carried to the quays by a private railway.

In those days little was known about pumping, but an heir to the estate installed an underground waterway, 20 fathoms below the surface, connecting all the mines and carrying the water into Fordell Burn and so to the sea. Before the end of the century other pits were sunk - by this time perpendicular pits.

And what names the mines were given. There was Humbug Pit, one at Vantage. A little later, when an Admiral married the heiress, the names of new sunk pits took a nautical tone, with Bulwark, Vengeance, Venerable.

As the eighteenth century ended, homes were built for the Fordell miners, and the mining community of Fordell grew. There was a store, run by the owners of the estate, a library, a reading room, a school, and a village hall. There were gardens for the rows of homes, and the laird gave prizes for their upkeep and their products.

Still more pits were sunk, worked and named. The Lady Anne, the Alice, the George - and, in 1843, before some of those which it has survived, the William Pit. The shaft was sunk to 75 fathoms - with a steam pump at the shaft bottom which was only replaced last year.

The Alice Pit, near Cowdenbeath, was under-used, until a few years ago when it was given modern equipment - but to the community of Fordell, the William Pit was the limit of the colliery.

Condemnation of the old Fordell houses led to many of the families moving to other villages, but they still work in the Fordell pits. Young Peter Ford, of Halbeath, for instance, who has worked in the William Pit for four years, is the sixth generation of a mining family of the Fordell pits.

The family's known record is a long one. His father, Richard Ford, was a miner there. His grandfather, Peter McArthur, retired after a half-century in the Fordell mines. His great-grandfather, John McArthur, had been employed in Fordell for more than 50 years.
The generation before that, Archie Livingstone, Peter Ford's great-great-grandfather, who died at 85, had been a miner and finished his long service in the Humbug pit. He was the only one of the family who has travelled outside the village. He had been a soldier, and - in more peaceful times - was famed as a step-dancer. The total service of those generations of the Ford family ran to nearly two centuries - and there were probably earlier sprigs of the same stock who worked in the Fordell mines.

(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)

(1) From Scotland's oldest working pit the miners come off shift. It was their last shift there - but their smiles show they've no fears for their future.

(2) Cigarette and pipe of these firemen underground at the pumps show that that old William is a naked light pit. William Johnston, left, and John Gibson.

(3) Boiler fireman Stewart Luke brakes the century-old wooden wagons - still in use, but now with steel rails replacing the primitive wooden ones.

(4) Henry Hosie, winding engineman, has been in the mines for half a century, but a mere 18 years at the winding gear of William pit. He brings up the last cage load of the last shift worked in old William.

They Lived Apart from the World

For long, the villages of Fordell and its men and women - the "watties" - were isolated from the rest of Fife. They were born, grew up, worked and lived, and died, in the village, discouraging strangers, proud of the family tradition, and clinging to their own ways of life.

Closing of William Pit concludes the history of this Scottish mining community, for, although coal from the William seams will still be got at Alice colliery, and though Fordell men will still work at other mines, to the villagers the William Pit was truly the last of the Fordell mines.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
16 January, 1875

On Saturday week, while a man named David Hogg was employed in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, a lump of blae fell from the roof of the pit, and caught him in such a manner that he got his left leg broken at the ankle. Dr. Dow was speedily in attendance.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
10 July, 1875

While a lad named Andrew Williamson, a pony driver, was employed in the William Pit, Cuttlehill, on Monday, he fell in front of a train of waggons of which he was in charge, and getting jammed between the two front waggons, sustained fracture of his right leg. He was attended by Dr. L. Lane, Crossgates.

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"Dunfermline Journal"
7 October, 1876

Boiler Explosion and Loss of Life at Fordel Colliery.

On Saturday afternoon [30 September, 1876] one of the most serious calamities which has occurred in this part of the country for many years took place at the mouth of the "William" pit, one of the Fordel collieries, in consequence of the explosion of a boiler by which four persons were killed and other six were more or less injured. The scene of the disaster is situated about mid-way between the villages of Crossgates and Cowdenbeath, and nearly at an equal distance north of Fordel. About half-past one o'clock a loud report, as of an explosion, was heard proceeding from the direction of the pit head, which excited the utmost alarm throughout the district, but owing to the isolated situation of the colliery from any habitation, there were very few people at hand when the accident occurred, except those usually employed at the pit bank, more than half of whom were rendered helpless by the distressing occurrence. Those, however, who had escaped the catastrophe, hastily turned to the rescue of their less fortunate fellow-workers, and in a few minutes they were joined by Mr and Mrs Ford, the occupants of Cuttlehill farm, which adjoins the pithead, and whose home is about three hundred yards to the westward, and also by Mr Hogg, the manager of the collieries, together with several men who were proceeding to their work at some distance. On approaching the place they passed the fragments of a boiler; they were met by one or two persons in a distracted state, and on getting nearer, their ears were greeted with the piteous cries of the anguished sufferers, who could only be reached with some difficulty, for the locality was completely shrouded in a dense cloud of steam and smoke.

As the vapour and dust cleared away, an appalling scene of wreck and suffering was disclosed - two of the boilers were displaced and the greater portion of the third one had disappeared; the masonry in which they had been embedded was torn up and lying at some distance around; the large stones which formed the breast work of the furnaces, together with a mass of bricks and limestone had been projected forward against a bing of small coals; several of the workpeople were entangled among the ruins and were imploring for help. This was rendered as speedily as possible by those who were present during the first few minutes, and their number was augmented by others who joined in the work of extricating the sufferers, most of whom were young women who were employed at another part of the works but had left it for a brief interval and gathered in front of the fires to warm themselves until additional waggons were procured. As one after another of the hapless victims were got out of the ruins, they were wrapped in blankets and conveyed to their homes in carts which were brought forward by Mr Ford from the farm steading and who at the same time despatched a messenger to Crossgates for medical assistance.

Part of a hair net was observed, and on clearing away the lime and removing some stones, they came upon the body of a young woman named May Cook, who, after a little time, regained sufficient consciousness to be able to state where her sister Helen was at the time of the accident. From this statement the men were able to form some idea where to search for her, which they did, opposite the furnace before which she had been standing. Having removed a number of stones, they came upon the body of Isabella Harrower, and underneath her that of Helen Cook. They were both sadly crushed and scalded with the heavy hot stones by which they had been struck, and under which they were buried. The bodies of both were removed to the dwellings of their relatives, the former to Fordell and the latter to Donibristle. Another young woman named Catherine Penman, was found in a somewhat similar condition; she was alive, however, but quite unconscious, she was removed to her father's house in Fordell where she died in about three hours thereafter.

The other victims were Isabella Philip, who was severely cut about the limbs and scalded on the chest and shoulders, she was also removed to her home in Fordell, but her condition since then has been such that little hopes are entertained of her recovery.

Archibald George, the fireman, was a good deal scalded, and he is evidently much shaken. It is supposed that he had been round at the donkey engine, for he was seen at some distance from the boilers, and afterwards he endeavoured to render assistance in removing the debris, but he fell down in a state of stupor. He was taken to his house at Mossgreen where he became worse and continued so till Tuesday, since then, however, he has been much easier and his recovery is hopeful.

Another sufferer was Isabella Donaldson, who has been a great deal scalded and bruised, and who resides at Donibristle; Mary Black, and William Speed, the weigher, escaped with comparatively slight injuries. While attention was being concentrated upon the rescue of the victims from the heap of rubbish in front of where the furnaces had been, the body of the engineman, Andrew Arnot, was discovered in a field 40 yards to the southward. It is stated by a man who was at the pit head, that immediately before the explosion, he saw the engineman on top of the boilers, only two of which were supplying steam to the engines, the centre one having been cleaned out during the morning; he was then near the feed pipe of the north boiler. The boilers are quite similar to those commonly in use throughout the county, two of them were about 34 ft. long, the third, which exploded, was a little shorter, they were oval-shaped at both ends and were formed of 3/8 inch iron. The two ends of the exploded boiler were blown nearly straight westward over the pithead and beyond, a distance of more than 100 yards.

Another part of it was lying on the "bing", and numerous stones which had been near the boilers were found in the fields around. Both the ends, however, are farthest away, and are only a few feet apart, one of them is torn up and flattened, the other has retained its shape though it struck the trunk of a tree so violently that the top is broken off, it had then rebounded against another tree and rested on the ground. Mrs Arnot, wife of the engineman, was standing in the doorway of her house, near Crossgates, when she heard the explosion, and having exclaimed "there's there's the boiler burst," she then ran across the fields in the direction of the pit.

Her worst forebodings were all too fully realised, for the first information she received on her arrival in answer to her inquiries was that her husband was dead, and that he had been killed outright. On learning what had occurred Dr Lane, Crossgates, lost no time in reaching the spot. Dr Drysdale, Dunfermline, had occasion to be passing near Fordel, and being told by Mr Hogg the state of matters, he at once turned in the direction of the colliery.

Dr Mungall, Cowdenbeath, was also present. These gentlemen rendered what aid they could in the circumstances, both on the spot and afterwards at the dwellings of the injured persons. Mr Henderson of Fordel, proprietor of the colliery, got intelligence of the disaster, and reached the pit while operations were in progress, was unsparing in his attentions to the helpless victims; since then he has been unremitting in his solicitude on their behalf, and liberal in dispensing substantial aid to the distressed and bereaved families. On Tuesday the bodies of the engineman and two young women were committed to the ground in Mossgreen Churchyard, and that of Catherine Penman was laid in Dunfermline Cemetery.

During the whole of Sunday, a great many people visited the locality of the explosion.

On Monday, Sheriff Lamond, together with Mr McFarlane, procurator-fiscal, went over the premises, and afterwards authorised Mr Thomas Dale and Mr Lewis Grant, engineers, Kirkcaldy, to make a professional examination of the boilers and to report. Mr Ralph Moore, inspector of mines in this district, and his assistant, were also present for some time during the afternoon. On Tuesday, workmen commenced to clear away the rubbish in the vicinity of the boilers.

The first of three new boilers was brought forward, and the workmen expect that steam will be got up with it on Monday, and the pumping engines set agoing. Owing to the pit being below the level of the others, the water accumulates there rapidly from the higher workings.

It is gratifying to have to add that the men who were in the underground workings have been employed throughout the other pits. The damage is stated at between £1200 and £1500. The engines and machinery have not been so much injured as was at first supposed. Portions of the walls and the roofs of the pumping engine house and gig house have been driven inwards but the destruction is not so great as to cause any lengthy detention for repair.

The wending ropes were knocked off the pillows over the pithead and in consequence the men, who were occupied below, had to find their way to the surface by the adjoining shafts.

Of the two boilers which remain, one is nearly entire and the other is rent, but both have been set aside. It is remarkable that the chimney stalk which was within a few feet of the furnaces has escaped unscathed. The most regrettable thing connected with the event is the loss of life, and yet, had the accident occurred only half-an-hour later, the result would probably been much more serious, for many of the miners would have been sharpening their tools in the smithy which, being quite contiguous to the boilers, was completely demolished; as it was the consequences have been extremely sad. The engineman is survived by his widow and five children, the other three who were killed were unmarried.

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Report of Inspector of Mines

By Mr. Moore

The report into the William Pit, Fordel, when the bursting of a steam boiler took place. Unfortunately, seven girls were sheltering themselves at the fire doors at the time, and they were injured with the flying bricks. The engineman and four of the girls were killed, and five other persons injured. Had the girls been at work more of them might have escaped.
The boiler was one of a range of three which supplied steam to a pumping engine, and also to a winding engine; it was of the ordinary egg-end shape 25 feet long, 6 feet diameter, and had been working at a pressure of 30 lbs. on the square inch for upwards of 23 years. It was furnished with all the fittings required by the statute, and there was nothing to indicate weakness or that it had too little water in it.
In addition to the examination made by myself, the procurator fiscal had two engineers, and these gentlemen made a careful examination and drew up an exhaustive report, but the Lord Advocate did not see fit to take proceedings against anyone, and I did not see how he could. I am inclined to think that colliery steam boilers of this type should not be used for more than 10 or 15 years; they are often fed with impure water perhaps often short of water, and may get harder usage than the manager or owner can be aware of. The owner removed the other two boilers. He had since insured his boilers with one of the insurance companies. These companies require a certain uniformity of practice in fittings and strengths, and undertake, for so much per annum, to send practical boiler makers to examine the boilers and give directions as to repairs.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
23 April, 1881

About seven o'clock yesterday morning, while James Alexander was employed working in the William Pit of Fordell Colliery, a piece of the face of coal, weighing about a ton in weight, suddenly gave way, part of it which fell on his legs and body. When extricated, it was found that his right leg was severely bruised. He was taken home and attended by Dr. Warburton, Crossgates, and is now progressing as well as can be expected.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
18 February, 1882

Andrew Watson, while employed in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, on Friday last week, was very seriously injured by a mass of coal falling on him from the roof. His recovery is very doubtful.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
6 September, 1884

On Tuesday, while a miner named John Muir was engaged at the working face of the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, a piece of coal weighing 3 cwt. fell from the roof and struck him on the left leg, which was broken below the knee. The unfortunate man was conveyed to his home at Mossgreen, where he was attended by Dr. Mackenzie, Crossgates.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
30 October, 1886

On Friday night, while David Hogg was employed in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, at the wheel brae, an immense lump of stone fell on him from the roof. He was promptly taken home and attended by the colliery doctor, but his injuries were so very serious that death ensued. Deceased was 16 years of age.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
21 December, 1889

On Saturday last, while John Hill (47), miner, residing at Fordell, was working at the coal face in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, a mass of coal came away unexpectedly - part of which striking Hill knocked him down, broke his left collar bone and left thigh. He was attended by Dr. Nasmyth, Lochgelly, who had the injured man conveyed home.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
1 December, 1894

While working at the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, on Tuesday, James Parker (48), miner, Crossgates, sustained a fracture of the left arm. It appears that a loaded hutch, which was being pushed by Parker, struck one of the upright "trees" by which the crossbar was supported, with the result that a piece of stone fell from the roof and struck Parker on the left arm. Dr Nasmyth, Crossgates, was called, and set the injured limb.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
16 March, 1895

On Monday, Walter Smart (15), pony driver, Fordell, while sitting in front of the first of a race of hutches in the underground workings of the George and William Pit, was knocked off the hutch by a projecting stone, and sustained a fracture of the right leg. Dr Alexander Nasmyth, Kelty, attended to the lad's injuries.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
15 June, 1895

Henry Lister, miner, Crossgates, had his right cheek severely cut by a fall in the underground workings of the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, on Thursday.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
9 November, 1895

James Barclay, brusher, Crossgates, was seriously injured in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, on Saturday. While he was knocking out a prop to allow a stone to come down there was an unexpected fall from the roof, with the result that his right leg was fractured above the ankle, and his spine injured.

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
25 July, 1896

An accident occurred in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, on Monday night, by which one man was killed and another narrowly escaped with his life. It appears that new water pipes were being introduced into the shaft, and the work was being pushed forward during the holidays. Robert Birrell, contractor, and James Wardrope, oversman, were on the back shift on Monday night, and were engaged about mid-shaft in a kettle. Through some cause or other, a pipe which had been used as back balance, came down the shaft and struck the kettle with tremendous force. The result was that Birrell fell from the kettle to the bottom of the shaft and was killed. Wardrope escaped through being driven among the pipes, where he was able to cling to the gearing until assistance arrived. Birrell was 35 years of age. He was married and leaves a widow and five children.

[A full Report of the Fatal Accident Inquiry is provided in the issue of 15 August. The Jury found that, while Robert Birrell was being lowered down the shaft, he was, by some unexplained circumstance, jerked or thrown from the kettle and fell to the bottom, and was killed on the spot.
Giving evidence were: James Wardrope, underground manager; Duncan Mackay, foreman of the Fordell Colliery Workshops; Alexander Philp, engineman; John Christie, pit wright; and, James Ritchie, blacksmith.]

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"Dunfermline Saturday Press"
28 November, 1896

Mr James Wardrope, oversman, Fordell Colliery, was presented with a handsome marble timepiece, and with a gold brooch for Mrs Wardrope, on the occasion of his leaving to fill a similar situation at Halbeath. ...

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"Dunfermline Press"
25 December, 1897

James Burt, wheeler, Union Street, Cowdenbeath, met with an accident in the underground workings of the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, on Tuesday. He was lowering a race of hutches down the wheel brae when the chain came off the wheel and, catching him by the right leg, dragged him down the brae a distance of about five yards. The leg was broken above the knee. Dr Nasmyth, Crossgates, ordered his removal to the Dunfermline Cottage Hospital.

"Dunfermline Press"
1 January, 1898
FATAL RESULT OF A PIT ACCIDENT

James Burt, a colliery wheeler, residing at Union Street, Cowdenbeath, died in the Dunfermline Cottage Hospital on Wednesday night from the effects of injuries which he sustained in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, on Tuesday last week. Burt had been lowering a race of hutches on the wheel brae when the winding chain slipped off the wheel, and catching him by the right leg, dragged him down the brae. His leg was broken, and had to be amputated above the knee, and he was otherwise injured. The deceased was fifty-one years of age.

[The Fatal Accident Inquiry Report features in the issue of 22 January, 1898.]

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"Dunfermline Press"
7 May, 1898

On Wednesday, while Peter Hogg (27), miner, Crossgates, was working at the coal face in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, a large quantity of coal fell and struck him on the head and left shoulder, knocking him down. The coal also struck him on the foot, whereby the first and second toes were terribly lacerated. He was conveyed to Dunfermline Cottage Hospital, where it was found necessary to amputate both the injured toes.

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"Dunfermline Press"
20 August, 1898

A somewhat serious accident befell a miner named James Hope, at Fordell colliery, on Thursday. While descending the William Pit, his light went out, and on reaching the bottom of the shaft he scratched a match for the purpose of relighting the lamp. He happened to have a 1lb. packet of gunpowder in the inside pocket of his jacket; and the head of the match fell on the packet, which was overhanging a little, with the result that the gunpowder exploded. The man was severely burned about various parts of the body. He was able, however, to walk home, where he was attended to by Dr W. R. Nasmyth, Crossgates.

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"Dunfermline Press"
28 July, 1900

On Wednesday morning, while David Allan, son of James Allan, miner, West Netherton Street, Dunfermline, was working at the William Pithead, Fordell Colliery, lifting a hutch which had left the rails, his right leg slipped into the top end of the hutch creeper, which conveys the empty hutches to the pithead. He was jammed between the creeper and the pithead framework, and his right leg was broken above the knee. He also sustained serious bruises about the right side. Dr Nasmyth set the injured limb, and ordered Allan's removal to the Dunfermline Cottage Hospital.

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"Dunfermline Press"
14 September, 1901

William Birrell Cook, a drawer, residing at the Old Square, Fordell, was struck by a mass of blaes while employed in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, on Friday last week, and was severely bruised about the back and shoulders. Dr Nasmyth attended to the injured man.

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"The Dunfermline Press"
13 December, 1902

A miner was injured after an incident at William Pit in Crossgates when in the act of firing a powder shot in the working face of a five-feet seam. Thomas Hope suffered severe cuts and bruises about the head when the shot prematurely fired.

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"Dunfermline Press"
13 December, 1902

When in the act of firing a powder shot in the working face in the five-feet seam of the William Pit on Monday, Thomas Hope, miner, Springhill, was severely cut and bruised about the head. The shot prematurely fired, and Hope was struck by the falling minerals ere he could get out of the way.

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"Dunfermline Press"
31 January, 1903

John Gibson, pit-bottomer, Cairns Row, Donibristle, had the misfortune on Saturday to sustain fractures of his left arm and right leg while at work in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery. He was at the foot of the shaft when a hutch fell off the upper deck of the cage, knocking him down and causing the injuries stated.

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"Dunfermline Press"
9 July, 1904

John Pearson, brusher, Kingseat, met with his death yesterday morning in one of the pits of Fordell Colliery. Pearson was working on the night shift engaged in brushing operations, when a fall from the roof took place. On the miners descending the shaft yesterday morning, the unfortunate man was found lying dead in one of the roads.

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"Dunfermline Press"
16 July, 1904

John Pearson, who, as reported last week, met with his death in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, on Friday last, had been working along with a companion named James McArthur. Deceased was engaged removing a brick building, when a mass of debris, weighing about thirty hundredweights, fell on him, and broke his neck. He was just preparing to finish his shift when the accident occurred. Deceased who was forty-three years of age, leaves a widow and eight of a family, who reside in Kingseat.

FOOTNOTE
See Fatal Accidents Inquiry below on 30 July, 1904

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"Dunfermline Press"
16 July, 1904

While employed in the Alice section of the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, on Saturday, William Johnstone, miner, Mossgreen, had both of his collar bones broken and his shoulder dislocated by a fall of stone from the roof. Dr William Ramsay Nasmyth attended the injured man, who was removed home.

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"Dunfermline Press"
30 July, 1904

Under the Fatal Accidents Inquiry Act, an inquiry was held in the Sheriff Court, Dunfermline, on Thursday - before Sheriff Shennan and a Jury - into the circumstances attending the death of John Pearson, pit repairer, lately residing at Main Street, Kingseat, who was killed on 8^th July in the William Pit, of Fordell Colliery, by a fall of timber and material from the roof. Those giving evidence included:- James Gray, colliery manager; John McArthur, pit repairer, Norwood; Robert Adamson, pit inspector, Dunfermline Road, Crossgates; and William Dawson, pit inspector, Woodend. A formal verdict was returned by the Jury.

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"Dunfermline Press"
23 December, 1905

David Fraser, pit bottomer, residing at 4 Wemyss Square, Fordell, sustained severe bruises to his back in the William Pit, Donibristle Colliery, on Monday, by a loaded hutch falling from a double-decked cage on the top of him. The injured man was conveyed home and attended to by Dr Craig.

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"Dunfermline Press"
25 August, 1906

Peter Martin, an engineer, about thirty years of age, belonging to Leith, met with a singular accident on Tuesday at Fordell Colliery. He had been repairing some machinery at the William Pit, and was journeying on the "pug". On coming to a narrow part of the line, his legs were caught between a stone dyke and the engine, and were jammed severely. He was taken home and attended to by Dr Nasmyth.

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"Dunfermline Press"
25 August, 1906

An accident occurred at the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, at mid-day on Thursday, by which a miner named John Lawson, residing at the Pleasants, Halbeath, lost his life. Along with his brother Adam, he had been brushing a dook, when a large stone about 12 feet long and 3 feet broad came away and fell on him. His neck and back were broken, and his skull was fractured. Death was instantaneous. His brother was injured on several parts of the body, although not seriously. Deceased was highly respected in the district. He was an elder of Mossgreen Church. He was about forty-five years of age, and leaves a widow and family for whom much sympathy is felt.

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"Dunfermline Press"
29 September, 1906

Under the Fatal Accidents Inquiry Act, an inquiry was held in the Sheriff Court, Dunfermline, on Thursday - before Sheriff Shennan and a Jury - into the circumstances attending the death of a brusher named John Lawson, lately residing at the Pleasants, Halbeath. On 23rd August Lawson was working in the Glassee dook section of the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, when a stone fell upon him from the roof. Those giving evidence included:- Adam Lawson, brusher, Long Row, Halbeath (brother of deceased); James Robertson, pitwright, Douglas Cottages, Fordell; William Johnston, oversman, Mossgreen; and Alexander Baxter, fireman, Springhill, Crossgates. The jury returned a formal verdict.

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"Dunfermline Press"
21 November, 1914
CLOSING OF WILLIAM PIT.

The proprietors of the Fordell Collieries have posted notices announcing their intention of temporarily closing the William Pit. A goodly number of men are involved, but possibly the proprietors will mitigate the effect to some extent by drafting a proportion to their other pits.

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"Dunfermline Press"
5 December, 1914

The William Pit, Fordell Colliery, has been shut down owing to the war. About 200 hands were employed, and efforts are being made to take on most of the workmen at the Company's other pits.

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"Dunfermline Press"
29 June, 1918

Robert Spowart, pit fireman, in the employment of the Fordell Coal Company, who met with a serious accident in the William Pit a week ago, died in the Dunfermline and West Fife Hospital on Thursday as the result of his injuries.

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"Dunfermline Press"
5 April, 1919

The death has taken place in the Dunfermline and West Fife Hospital of James Beveridge, miner, residing at North End, Crossgates. While employed in the Glassee seam of the William Pit, Donibristle [sic] Colliery, on 4th March, his lamp was accidentally extinguished, and he was overtaken and struck by a race of loaded hutches. He received severe internal injuries, which, from the time of his admission to hospital, were regarded as likely to prove fatal. Deceased was twenty years of age.

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"Dunfermline Press"
24 May, 1919
TAIL-RUNNER'S DEATH AT FORDELL

Under the Fatal Accidents Inquiry Act, an inquiry was held in the Sheriff Court, Dunfermline, on Thursday - before Sheriff Umpherston and a Jury - into the circumstances attending the death of James Beveridge, tail-runner, lately residing at North End, Crossgates, who died on 28th March in the Dunfermline and West Fife Hospital from injuries received on 4th March in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, by being crushed between an ascending race of hutches and the side of a dook. Those giving evidence included: Michael Johnston, motorman; James Beveridge (34), fireman; and William Johnston, undermanager. By the direction of the Sheriff, the jury added to their verdict a suggestion that the accident could not have happened if the practice had been for the tail-runner to go up the dook before belling away the rake.

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"Dunfermline Press"
18 August, 1923

... Michael Johnstone, Douglas Cottages, Fordell, had his right hand injured through a girder falling on it when he was working in the William Pit, Fordell.

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"Dunfermline Press"
5 October, 1929
FORDELL PIT FATALITY.

David McEwan, miner, residing at Manse Road, Crossgates, met with a fatal accident at Fordell Colliery on Tuesday. While he was preparing to stop work for the day a fall came away from the roof and completely buried him. When he was extricated it was found that death had been instantaneous. Deceased, who was 58 years of age, leaves a widow and grown-up family.

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"Dunfermline Press"
21 December, 1929

Under the Fatal Accidents Inquiry Act, an inquiry was held in the Sheriff Court, Dunfermline, on Thursday - before Sheriff Umpherston and a Jury - into the circumstances attending the death of a miner named David Smith McEwan, Manse Road, Crossgates, who was killed on 1st October in the Smithy Section of the William Pit, Fordell Colliery, by a fall of stone from the roof of his working place. Those giving evidence included:- James McEwan, miner, Manse Road, Crossgates, son of the deceased; Samuel Bernard Malpas, colliery fireman, 6 Douglas Terraces, Fordell; and James Kelly, colliery manager. A formal verdict was returned by the jury.

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"Dunfermline Press"
7 March, 1931
PROBABLE CLOSING OF FORDELL PIT.

Fourteen days' notices have been served on the miners working in the William Pit, Fordell Colliery. At the end of that period the men will be placed on day to day notices, so that the pit may be closed at any moment.
The William Pit is one of the oldest mines in the county, and gives employment to many of the inhabitants residing in Fordell and Crossgates.
An official of the Company stated that this step is a result of the quota. "We have plenty orders," he said, "but to comply with the quota requirements the output can be given from one pit." The other pit belonging to the Company is the "Alice".

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"Dunfermline Press"
28 May, 1949
COLLIERY ACCIDENTS

John Cochrane (52), underground colliery fireman, 13 County Houses, Fordell, is in Dunfermline and West Fife Hospital seriously injured as the result of an explosion in the William Pit, Fordell, on Thursday evening. Cochrane was preparing a shot when it went off prematurely. His left hand was blown off and he sustained other injuries to his right hand, his right eye, his feet, and abdomen. ...

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"The Cowdenbeath Advertiser"
November 3, 1950

The William Pit, situated on the lands of Fordell near Cowdenbeath, one of the oldest working collieries in Scotland, closed down last Saturday after having been in production for over a century. The pit, which was originally designated the Wellington, was owned by the Fordell Coal Company prior to nationalisation. It was sunk as a vertical shaft in 1843 although there is evidence that the upper seams of coal in the Fordell estate were worked even earlier. The 50 men who were latterly employed in the William are being absorbed in the nearby Alice Pit from which the remaining seams are to be worked and drawn to the surface. The closing down of the William sounds the death knell of Fordell as a self contained village coming as it does at a time when most of the old houses have been condemned. For generations the whole life of the village centred round the colliery and its private railway. It was the stimulating interest in the Earl of Buckinghamshire and his predecessors, who were the principal shareholders in the Fordell Coal Company, that made it possible for the miners of Fordell to boast of their own brass band, their own village store and their annual flower show. The self contained nature of the village life was also illustrated by the fact that five generations of Fordell families were employed in the William Pit.